The Film Baby Review: A Sharp Portrait of Queer Brazilian Survivors Lost in the System
Evoking the city's relentless energy and dynamic spirit of São Paulo, filmmaker Caetano's bracing drama zooms in on those who exist on the margins of an perpetually shifting metropolis. Fresh out of juvenile prison, 18-year-old Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) faces a critical turning point; left behind by his parents, the impressionable young man finds solace in the arms of others.
On an evening out with his rowdy group of queer and non-binary friends, Wellington encounters Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro), a muscular, charming hustler over double his age. Bathed in the flickering glow of a adult movie theater, their initial encounter is physical and passionate, with an hint of risk. Ronaldo promptly ushers Wellington to the clandestine realm of prostitution and drug dealing.
A Study of Understanding Instead of Exploitation
The film illustrates Wellington’s new life of crime with compassionate understanding rather than as a melodramatic morality play. Now using the alias Baby, he approaches his transactional encounters with brash fearlessness and endearing innocence. To his patrons, Wellington offers more than his youth and his body, but also moments of care.
In the hectic energy of São Paulo, teeming with busy lanes and colourful shopfronts, there’s a gnawing loneliness, as adrift individuals hold fast to one another for temporary happiness.
"The streets can be fraught with peril, yet they are where they can forge familial bonds, too."
A Complicated Relationship of Love and Control
Ronaldo is simultaneously a partner and a guardian-like mentor to Wellington, but their relationship is derailed by envy and monetary insecurity. Dangers posed by dubious individuals in the underworld seem minor next to the fear of institutional observation and incarceration, represented by the hovering figures of police officers on patrol.
Baby is especially potent as a perceptive study of the disenfranchised individuals who have slipped through the gaps the established structure. The film ultimately serves as a moving look into resilience, chosen family, and the quest for self within a demanding urban landscape.
